In the Ukrainian steppe, toward the end of World War II, the German and Romanian troops are retreating in the face of the unstoppable Red Army. A Romanian military unit has set up its headquarters in a deserted school. A visit of high-ranking Wehrmacht officers is suddenly announced. Hope is awakened: will they receive new orders? But disappointment comes quickly.
A scholar of mathematics would like to publish his research outside Ceaucescu's Romania, but getting it through the border and the State censorship is not easy.
The '60s, Romania. Serafim, a young doctor, is sent to the Hospital in Palilula, a small town lost somewhere on the country map, after the death of the previous pediatrician, Mr. Pantelică.